Apple Named in China Porn App Investigation

Apple Inc. is once again in the pages of the People’s Daily, this time in an article listing a number of websites and app stores that have been investigated for providing pornographic content in China.

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A man talks on an Apple iPhone in Beijing.

The Cupertino, Calif., company’s appearance on the list (in Chinese), which mostly includes relatively obscure websites, has spurred concern on the Chinese Internet that this may represent the beginning of another campaign by the government against Apple. But Apple’s most recent appearance in state media is markedly different from the March attacks that prompted an apology from Chief Executive Tim Cook .

The People’s Daily article is not featured prominently in Wednesday’s paper, nor does it make efforts to emphasize Apple, which is listed next to the names of other app stores singled out in the middle of the second paragraph of the article. According to Apple’s terms of use, pornographic content is not allowed on its app store.

Nonetheless the mention does put Apple in an uncomfortable parallel with Google. Some analysts compared Apple’s run-in with state media last month to Google’s difficulties with China Central Television, which accused the company of spreading pornography in 2009. The accusations presaged deeper difficulties in China, including hacking attacks that led Google to move its operations to Hong Kong in 2010.

Apple in recent years has had other run-ins with the government over pornographic content on its sites.

The Chinese government is better known for its crackdowns on politically sensitive content, but it has also long sought to keep pornography off the web in China. To accomplish this quixotic task, it has launched repeated campaigns to block illicit material online, shuttered hundreds of websites and blog accounts, and even called Internet executives into industry-wide meetings to call for greater vigilance. Occasionally the Chinese government will use bans on pornography to censor politically sensitive content, according to analysts.